MLB.com's Carrie Muskat has been covering Major League Baseball since 1981 and is the author of "Banks to Sandberg to Grace: Five Decades of Love and Frustration with the Cubs." You can follow her on Twitter @CarrieMuskat. Here, she blogs about the Cubs.

2/17 Cubs notebook

Blake DeWitt, Jeff Baker and Kosuke Fukudome are the three leading candidates to be the Cubs’ leadoff man. Manager Mike Quade plans on rotating the three during Cactus League games and would like to see someone assert themself and take the job. Fukudome, who has a career .368 on-base percentage in his three seasons with the Cubs, may be the best fit there.

“You can’t lose sight of the fact that if ‘Fuke’s’ in the lineup and it’s his day and he’s playing well, he’s the guy who fits best to me,” Quade said.

Quade did use Baker at the top of the order against some left-handed pitchers last season. Baker boasts a .350 average against lefties.

* Only the Nationals and the Pirates made more errors than the Cubs did last season and one of manager Mike Quade’s goals is to have the team play better defense. “We need to be better, period,” Quade said Thursday. “We talk about [Blake] DeWitt and we talk about [Starlin Castro] and those are two kids who have a lot of work to do in the middle of the diamond.

“If [Aramis Ramirez] is healthy, we should be fine,” Quade said. “I’ve seen [Carlos Pena] play very good first base. Our catcher, [Geovany Soto], needs improvement throwing. Whether we improve marginally or a little bit or whatever, it will be a point of emphasis [this spring].

“These guys will understand we need to be better defensively,” Quade said. “I believe, like most clubs, pitching and defense will be huge. We’ve got some arms we’re excited about but we’ve got to make plays behind them.”

The Cubs finished with a .979 fielding percentage, tied for last in the National League with the Marlins, Nationals and Pirates.

* Young catcher Welington Castillo will get a good look this spring. Quade was impressed by his defense last season. Castillo needs to learn more about the mental aspect of catching and handling pitchers.

* The only position players not in camp are Aramis Ramirez, Alfonso Soriano, Starlin Castro and Fukudome. Catcher Max Ramirez has been delayed because of visa problems but was expected Friday. The first full squad workout is scheduled for Saturday.

* The Cubs didn’t waste any time getting pitcher Robert Coello some work. The right-hander, acquired from the Red Sox, threw a side session on Thursday.

Meta

The following are trademarks or service marks of Major League Baseball entities and may be used only with permission of Major League Baseball Properties, Inc. or the relevant Major League Baseball entity: Major League, Major League Baseball, MLB, the silhouetted batter logo, World Series, National League, American League, Division Series, League Championship Series, All-Star Game, and the names, nicknames, logos, uniform designs, color combinations, and slogans designating the Major League Baseball clubs and entities, and their respective mascots, events and exhibitions.